Luxury Honolulu condo Waiea foregoes … trash chutes?

A penthouse in the proposed Waiea tower in The Howard Hughes Corp.’s Ward Village in Honolulu, seen in this rendering has a price tag of $20 million, the developer said Friday.

The Howard Hughes Corp.’s Waiea luxury condominium, currently under construction in the Texas-based developer’s 60-acre Ward Village in Kakaako, was designed and is being built without trash chutes, the developer confirmed to PBN.

The 36-story, 171-unit condo going up on a former parking lot across from the Ward Consolidated Theatres is one of the first high-rises in Honolulu to skip this common feature.

The developer’s other luxury condo, Anaha, being built diagonally across from Waiea on a former Pier 1 Imports site, has trash chutes.

Race Randle, vice president of development for The Howard Hughes Corp., told PBN in an email that Waiea has been designed with trash and recycling rooms on each floor, in lieu of trash chutes.

“This is based on common practice in luxury high-rise developments in cities such as Vancouver and London where trash and recyclables are conveniently collected by staff,” he said. “This proven method, which is being applied to Waiea, offers an added level of service to residents, ensuring effective service and encouraging recycling as part of our LEED Platinum neighborhood.”

When asked by PBN whether other planned condos in Ward Village would have trash chutes, the developer would not specify if any other projects would follow Waiea’s trash and recycling room design, only to say that this method may be applied to future buildings at Ward Village.

In its condo public report released in November, The Howard Hughes Corp. said that there would be no trash chutes in Waiea.

For at least two other condo developments currently under construction in Kakaako, Alexander & Baldwin Inc.’s The Collection and OliverMcMillan’s Symphony Honolulu, trash chutes are being incorporated into the projects, according to their condo public reports.

Waiea was designed by award-winning Vancouver-based architect James K.M. Cheng in collaboration with Honolulu architect Rob Iopa, president of WCIT Architecture.

Nordic PCL Construction is the general contractor for the project at 1118 Ala Moana Blvd.

HAWAII AMERICANA REALTY

For the past 14 years, Mark G. Howard has practiced his skills as a licensed Realtor in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Las Vegas, Nevada and now Principal Broker & President of 'Hawaii Americana Realty', in Honolulu, Hawaii. He has gained a competitive edge in the real estate market by earning his status as an Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR).